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David Pollack got 'thousands of e-mails' from fans after South Carolina strip/interception

On3 imageby:Wes Blankenship07/14/22
On3 image
Georgia linebacker David Pollack celebrates victory with fans at the 2005 Outback Bowl January 1, 2005 at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida. Georgia defeated Wisconsin 24 - 21. (Photo by A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

David Pollack got the throwback Thursday treatment from Georgia football’s social media accounts. Pollack made plenty of plays in the Red and Black, but I think you know which play got the spotlight.

Georgia at South Carolina. 2002. Dawgs need a defensive score to get something, anything going on the scoreboard.

Corey Jenkins drops back into his own endzone, and the rest is Georgia football history.

Take it away, Verne.

David Pollack on the moment that put him on the Georgia football map

Pollack works for ESPN now as an analyst and College Gameday co-host. He’s a household name in College Football, and runs a faith-based foundation with his family

Years before he achieved that level of sports TV media acclaim and reach, Pollack was just a fullback recruit from Shiloh High School.

Georgia eventually developed him into an All-American and College Football Hall of Fame defensive end. But it all started with one ‘what-the-hell-was-that’ moment in Columbia.

Pollack spoke with ESPN about the play, and the recognition he achieved from Georgia football fans as a result.

“The play I made against South Carolina changed my life,” Pollack said.

“Before that play, I checked my e-mail and I didn’t have any. I came back literally from that South Carolina game and I had thousands of e-mails from fans.”

Look, it was 2002. Players at least had the barrier of e-mail – not the swinging saloon doors of Twitter – between them and the fans.

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Imagine if the play happened today. David Pollack’s strip-ception would be trending nationally and turned into a meme. Bulldog Twitter would break.

No matter the era, Pollack’s nearly 20-year-old play (to quote Verne, ‘My goodness!’) stands up against the greatest in Georgia football history.

“It was a career-changing thing for me,” Pollack said.

“I could never make it again. It wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t on purpose. But so many people have come up to me and said, ‘I was at so-and-so’s house watching that play.’ And to have that vivid of a memory of one single play, it shows you how much college football means to people.”

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